Growth hacking is a thing 
Chris Dover
plagiarized from all over 
the intrawebz 
Credits to the growth hacking community of 
amazingly helpful and intelligent people
Is there a difference between growth hacking and 
straightforward marketing? 
...a growth hacker is not a replacement for a marketer. A growth hacker is not better 
than marketer. A growth hacker is just different than a marketer.” 
A growth hacker is a person whose true 
north is GROWTH
Common Title in Tech Companies 
Director of Growth 
VP Growth Strategy 
Growth Marketing 
Head of Growth 
Growth Strategist 
Chief Growth Officer 
VP Digital Marketing 
Marketing 2.5/3.0 
Growth Hacker 
(it's just the latest name for it)
Keyboard warrior 
Growth 
Hacker is not 
your traditional 
marketing team
Everybody's doin it
Examples of Growth Hacking 
The guys from Hotmail, in 1996, bought 
billboards and magazine ads…to no result
Tim Draper suggested that they add to the 
bottom of every email sent from Hotmail: 
P.S. Get your free email at Hotmail.com 
Within 6 months of starting this, they had over 
2 Million users. 
A founder sent an email to India, and within 3 
weeks they had 300,000 new users in India
Dropbox allows you 
to get free space by 
referring friends, 
connecting to 
facebok, twitter or 
integrating. 
Almost 18 Gigs for 
free
Other examples 
LinkedIn - 2 Million to 200 Million users by 
allowing a public profile to be searchable in 
Google 
In 2002 a can of Red Bull placed in the hands of Britney 
Spears before the paparazzi followed her around LA. They 
took photos, those photos got published and boom, sales 
went up 200% the next month.
Those are all famous examples, but they don't 
represent the hard work behind the scenes, the 
constant testing, analytics, wins, fails and 
additional efforts needed to even recognize the 
"big win" as it was happening
Growth only works if 
LVC > CAC 
(lifetime value of a client >Client acquisition 
cost) 
A client is more valuable than what we pay to 
acquire them
Be where users are and be relevant 
to get users
User Acquisition is not only SEO 
While "old-school" and automated SEO is the most easy and cheap 
approach initially, it's dangerous and should not be used unless we 
plan to get penalized by Google and wipe out our budget before we 
begin.
Blocking and Tackling 
Before spending a single $ on 
advertising (TV Commercials, ppc, 
twitter, facebook, google, etc…) 
let's get the foundation in place and 
set up a way to monitor and 
analyze the effects and source of 
any action.
The tools of the trade
Step 1 - baseline 
Setup Monitoring/Analytics 
● Google Analytics and Kissmetrics (for example) 
● Monitor Main KPI's - Company wide 
○ Visits, Downloads, Views, Return Visits, Shares 
● Growth Team KPI's (constantly changing) 
○ referring URLs, super users, Social Media, time on 
page, bounces, track backs, conversion for CTA
Organize all touch points and monitor 24/7 
LinkedIn, Twitter streams, 
Facebook, Instagram, Blogs, 
Website, Reddit, Google Ads, 
DeskSites, Fantasy Football 
forums, Podcasts, etc... 
● Collect analytics on any 
and all touch points 
● Search for new 
touchpoints 
● The conversation is 24/7 
not 9-5 m-f
Social Media is where SPORTS fans 
live and breath 
Twitter users published more than 16 million tweets, or 
about 389,000 tweets per minute, during the worldcup 
Brazil-Chile game, shattering the record set in February 
during the Super Bowl. 
Superbowl. Twitter reported that a record 24.9 million 
tweets about the game were sent during the telecast. That 
topped the 24.1 million from last year's game.
Step 2 - Funnel 
● Use traditional and creative 
strategies for Acquisition 
(visits) "white hat SEO", 
PPC 
● Use CRO (conversion rate 
optimization) to move 
visitors down the funnel 
● If visitors don't convert, 
recycle them up the funnel 
and retarget them 
● Push referral 
● Keep funnel from too many 
outside hands
Step 2 - What works and doesn't 
Constantly test what works and what doesn't 
Remove what doesn't, increase what does 
Continue to try new things
Step 3 - Experiments 
A/B test Key Words, Tweets, Sharing, 
comments, screenshots, mentions 
Test, Analyze, Adjust, Test… 
This is where Conversion Rate Optimization 
(CRO) effort affects the funnel the most. 
Get to here quickly, and spend as much time here as possible
Get presence in order and be in the 
discussion 
Examples… 
Single page website for conversion - With CTA 
An AMAZING blog about your product 
Sprout Social/Swayy/Klout etc... (optimize posts) and be part of 
the discussion 
● Twitter 15-20x daily 
● Facebook 
● Reddit discussions 
● Always try new places
Implement 23 campaigns protocol 
My personal favorite Ad playbook built, used 
and constantly adjusted - by Juan Matetagui 
http://500.co/23-campaigns-gain-traction-and-unit- 
economics
PPC campaigns 
Once everything is finally in place here, always 
have a PPC (at whatever scale) running in the 
background. This is a way to constantly learn 
what draws the best conversion
Create a product 
Infographics, youtube channel, podcast, join a 
community discussion, create a white paper on 
how we do it...etc. Try something! 
Direct, subtle and clandestine growth techniques
Repeat 
Constantly repeat to step one all the way 
through the funnel optimization.
Setup PILLARS 
An awesome system to monitor all Growth efforts 
created by Kevin Braget 
P - Platform - (property, cpc channel) 
I - Idea - (What is it) 
L - labor (the work, tweets, CPC ad, video, blog post, participated 
in discussion etc..) 
L - Link (call to action) 
A - Target Audience (perhaps people at 2am arguing about FF 
trades) 
R - Results 
S - Spend (time or money spent to get the result)
Pillars example 
I need to find the reference from growthhackers.com the creator of this, it. is. awesome!
Summary 
Step 1 - Identify all properties and set up analytics, KPI's and begin 
monitoring. Purchase tools (Kissmetrics, Google Analytics, Sprout Social, 
Mention, Optimizely, Crazy Egg, Mix Panel, etc..) and in house product 
(PILLARS) for monitoring. *Most have 7-30 day trials 
Step 2 - Explore, Discover, test, analyze, optimize, repeat 
Step 3 - Funnel Optimization, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Compare 
to industry standards and established baselines. (A/B Testing, CTA, SEO, 
Mentions, Social Media, be part of the discussion). This is where money is 
spent, CPC, Keyword Advertising are examples but also will give Marketing 
Team insight into spending
Growth is not overnight, often times it's not a single idea, a single tweet by 
Payton Manning or idea #7 that show's real results, but the cumulitive of 
thousands of ideas over time and having the analytics in place to recognize 
what does and doesn't work
@chrisgeniusly 
chrisdover@gmail.com

Growth hacking is a thing (1)

  • 1.
    Growth hacking isa thing Chris Dover
  • 2.
    plagiarized from allover the intrawebz Credits to the growth hacking community of amazingly helpful and intelligent people
  • 3.
    Is there adifference between growth hacking and straightforward marketing? ...a growth hacker is not a replacement for a marketer. A growth hacker is not better than marketer. A growth hacker is just different than a marketer.” A growth hacker is a person whose true north is GROWTH
  • 4.
    Common Title inTech Companies Director of Growth VP Growth Strategy Growth Marketing Head of Growth Growth Strategist Chief Growth Officer VP Digital Marketing Marketing 2.5/3.0 Growth Hacker (it's just the latest name for it)
  • 5.
    Keyboard warrior Growth Hacker is not your traditional marketing team
  • 6.
  • 7.
    Examples of GrowthHacking The guys from Hotmail, in 1996, bought billboards and magazine ads…to no result
  • 8.
    Tim Draper suggestedthat they add to the bottom of every email sent from Hotmail: P.S. Get your free email at Hotmail.com Within 6 months of starting this, they had over 2 Million users. A founder sent an email to India, and within 3 weeks they had 300,000 new users in India
  • 9.
    Dropbox allows you to get free space by referring friends, connecting to facebok, twitter or integrating. Almost 18 Gigs for free
  • 10.
    Other examples LinkedIn- 2 Million to 200 Million users by allowing a public profile to be searchable in Google In 2002 a can of Red Bull placed in the hands of Britney Spears before the paparazzi followed her around LA. They took photos, those photos got published and boom, sales went up 200% the next month.
  • 11.
    Those are allfamous examples, but they don't represent the hard work behind the scenes, the constant testing, analytics, wins, fails and additional efforts needed to even recognize the "big win" as it was happening
  • 12.
    Growth only worksif LVC > CAC (lifetime value of a client >Client acquisition cost) A client is more valuable than what we pay to acquire them
  • 13.
    Be where usersare and be relevant to get users
  • 14.
    User Acquisition isnot only SEO While "old-school" and automated SEO is the most easy and cheap approach initially, it's dangerous and should not be used unless we plan to get penalized by Google and wipe out our budget before we begin.
  • 15.
    Blocking and Tackling Before spending a single $ on advertising (TV Commercials, ppc, twitter, facebook, google, etc…) let's get the foundation in place and set up a way to monitor and analyze the effects and source of any action.
  • 16.
    The tools ofthe trade
  • 17.
    Step 1 -baseline Setup Monitoring/Analytics ● Google Analytics and Kissmetrics (for example) ● Monitor Main KPI's - Company wide ○ Visits, Downloads, Views, Return Visits, Shares ● Growth Team KPI's (constantly changing) ○ referring URLs, super users, Social Media, time on page, bounces, track backs, conversion for CTA
  • 18.
    Organize all touchpoints and monitor 24/7 LinkedIn, Twitter streams, Facebook, Instagram, Blogs, Website, Reddit, Google Ads, DeskSites, Fantasy Football forums, Podcasts, etc... ● Collect analytics on any and all touch points ● Search for new touchpoints ● The conversation is 24/7 not 9-5 m-f
  • 19.
    Social Media iswhere SPORTS fans live and breath Twitter users published more than 16 million tweets, or about 389,000 tweets per minute, during the worldcup Brazil-Chile game, shattering the record set in February during the Super Bowl. Superbowl. Twitter reported that a record 24.9 million tweets about the game were sent during the telecast. That topped the 24.1 million from last year's game.
  • 20.
    Step 2 -Funnel ● Use traditional and creative strategies for Acquisition (visits) "white hat SEO", PPC ● Use CRO (conversion rate optimization) to move visitors down the funnel ● If visitors don't convert, recycle them up the funnel and retarget them ● Push referral ● Keep funnel from too many outside hands
  • 21.
    Step 2 -What works and doesn't Constantly test what works and what doesn't Remove what doesn't, increase what does Continue to try new things
  • 23.
    Step 3 -Experiments A/B test Key Words, Tweets, Sharing, comments, screenshots, mentions Test, Analyze, Adjust, Test… This is where Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) effort affects the funnel the most. Get to here quickly, and spend as much time here as possible
  • 24.
    Get presence inorder and be in the discussion Examples… Single page website for conversion - With CTA An AMAZING blog about your product Sprout Social/Swayy/Klout etc... (optimize posts) and be part of the discussion ● Twitter 15-20x daily ● Facebook ● Reddit discussions ● Always try new places
  • 25.
    Implement 23 campaignsprotocol My personal favorite Ad playbook built, used and constantly adjusted - by Juan Matetagui http://500.co/23-campaigns-gain-traction-and-unit- economics
  • 26.
    PPC campaigns Onceeverything is finally in place here, always have a PPC (at whatever scale) running in the background. This is a way to constantly learn what draws the best conversion
  • 27.
    Create a product Infographics, youtube channel, podcast, join a community discussion, create a white paper on how we do it...etc. Try something! Direct, subtle and clandestine growth techniques
  • 28.
    Repeat Constantly repeatto step one all the way through the funnel optimization.
  • 29.
    Setup PILLARS Anawesome system to monitor all Growth efforts created by Kevin Braget P - Platform - (property, cpc channel) I - Idea - (What is it) L - labor (the work, tweets, CPC ad, video, blog post, participated in discussion etc..) L - Link (call to action) A - Target Audience (perhaps people at 2am arguing about FF trades) R - Results S - Spend (time or money spent to get the result)
  • 30.
    Pillars example Ineed to find the reference from growthhackers.com the creator of this, it. is. awesome!
  • 31.
    Summary Step 1- Identify all properties and set up analytics, KPI's and begin monitoring. Purchase tools (Kissmetrics, Google Analytics, Sprout Social, Mention, Optimizely, Crazy Egg, Mix Panel, etc..) and in house product (PILLARS) for monitoring. *Most have 7-30 day trials Step 2 - Explore, Discover, test, analyze, optimize, repeat Step 3 - Funnel Optimization, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Compare to industry standards and established baselines. (A/B Testing, CTA, SEO, Mentions, Social Media, be part of the discussion). This is where money is spent, CPC, Keyword Advertising are examples but also will give Marketing Team insight into spending
  • 32.
    Growth is notovernight, often times it's not a single idea, a single tweet by Payton Manning or idea #7 that show's real results, but the cumulitive of thousands of ideas over time and having the analytics in place to recognize what does and doesn't work
  • 33.